Already well known in the inshore fishing scene, DUCE Rods began a push into the freshwater market in the 2017. The introduction of their ECHO line of spiral wrapped rods announced that the company would be entering a new marketplace, and the addition of

Crochet will provide DUCE an angler to highlight their current freshwater lineup, as well as develop a new Cliff Crochet Signature Series built around his style of fishing.

Rob Lever, Director of Marketing for DUCE Rods saw a lot of synergy with Crochet. We are proud to be a Louisiana company and who else is better to help us grow than the 'Cajun Baby'," said Lever of the new partnership. "Cliff provides a great deal of homegrown comfort and fit with our company, but he is more than that, which was a major part of why we focused on him to be our guy."

Lever said that Crochet brought knowledge, personality, and core values that matched the DUCE brand. "Cliff has a great deal of fishing knowledge that helps us not only further strengthen our existing lineup of rods, but will help us design our rods of the future," he said. "We are excited because this partnership is just not about sponsoring Cliff, we are also adding an important member to our family. We are proud to see him fishing with our ECHO series rods during the 2018 Bassmaster Elite series season."

Crochet said that he felt the same comfort level with DUCE, which made him feel comfortable to make a change at this part of his career. "I am proud to be from Louisiana, and love to work with high quality companies like DUCE, so that made the decision to partner with them easier," said Crochet, the four-time Bassmaster Classic Qualifier. "I've fished one brand of rods my whole career, and it took great people, and a great product to make a move, and this was the right time, and the right company."

Crochet said aside from the people and the product, he knew that the technology and the opportunity to be a headline pro staffer were also among the factors for making the decision. "It feels really good to be trusted enough to be the primary representative for a company," he said. "And; having a chance to begin focusing on using the DUCE spiral wrapped rods primarily, I now fully understand the benefits that spiral wrapping provides. I had fished a friend's custom spiral wrapped rods before, but now know that these will help me perform to a higher level in Elite Series competition in 2018 and beyond."